Light at the End of the Tunnel

FINALLY,  I'm seeing my graduation day in near view. I picked up my audit today and turned it in to the registrar. I'm graduating Spring 2011! I'm so stoked - I've felt many times that this point would never come. A domino effect of fantastic proportion will follow... Graduation, wedding, moving, then grad school! I couldn't be any more ready for a new place, a fresh start. Mark & I are both SO SICK OF KALAMAZOO, SO sick of WMU, and SO ready to breath new air.

So, updates! well, for one thing, my Zombie Brain turned out well! Photos!



In other news, I stripped my hair out & dyed it back to (pretty close to) my natural color. It's still got a few slightly funky highlights in it - like my bangs are lighter than the rest since they were bleached to take the red from before - but for the most part it's pretty good. My dyeing adventure!



So, school is stressing me out like no other.... Lots of pressure with such big decisions ahead about grad school. I feel like whenever I get to the point where I've mde a pretty firm decision, something comes up & I get shoved back to square one. The problem right now is that I was intending to get my masters in history, work for a while, then go on for my Ph. D. later. Most of the programs I really like, however, don't offer MA only - you have to go on to the Ph. D. too. So, I think I'm going to bite the bullet and just get both out the way. I'll volunteer or work at a museum while I am getting my degrees so that I have some work experience when I exit school and enter the public history field (preferably in the museum setting).

Well, tonight is the end of my hell week. I'm watching Prisoner of Azkaban (Sirius & Lupin are SO delicious) currently, and soon I'm going to clean the hell out of this crappy little apartment so it's somewhat livable and do something crafty... My hands are yearning to create something!

OK - time to RELAX and do whatever I want to do!!!

Emily

Movie Suggestion: "Wes Craven's New Nightmare" (1994), Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund) - Kind of a mind-bender, Craven brings us back to the cast of "Nightmare on Elm Street" but in a new way that's kind of boggling, but still beautifully gory and horror-silly. Freddy is back & a demon has erupted within his persona, terrorizing the cast of "Nightmare on Elm Street." Lots of fun!

Music Suggestion: Drake, "Thank Me Later" (2010) - I'm a big Drake fan, and ever since I picked this album up in June, I've had it in my car listened to it at least a few times a week, if not more. He's clever, honest, and charming, and his beats are addictive. Drake sings & raps, and has some great artists on the CD with him, such as Alicia Keys ("Fireworks"), Nicki Minaj ("Up All Night"), Jay-Z ("Light Up"), TI ("Fancy" - my favorite track!), Young Jeezy ("Unforgettable") and of course, his Cash Money/Young Money captain, Lil Wayne ("Miss Me"). Definitely worth a listen, even if you don't usually listen to hip-hop; it's lyrical, harmonious, and reflective.

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Please check out my new Etsy store! Pass it along to anyone you think may be interested - I have free US shipping, and I also gift wrap for free. The holidays are coming up fast!

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Blog update coming soon.

XOXO Emily

Bling Bling Sucka

Because I want to show off a good picture of it.... Here's my engagement ring!

Whether you're high or low, gotta keep on the tightrope.

{Title - "Tightrope" Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi}


Evening all,


Well, it's been another eventful day. I got a lot accomplished though! I went to my classes, did dishes, went grocery shopping, and did some homework. Full fridge & cupboards, full of gratitude!

I'm settling down with a Hypnotiq & Simply Lemonade, which is divine. I've been loving on Hypnotiq a lot lately - it's vodka, cognac & fruit juices, & I tried it with Simply Lemonade tonight, but I've also had it with Malibu Mango rum & pineapple juice, and that's fantastic (1 part H, 1 part Malibu, 2 parts juice for even flavoring). I used to bartend, so I like experimenting with different liquors and flavor combinations. Not to the point of belligerent though, of course!

I also tried out my new Zombie Brain Gelatin Mold tonight! One of my best friends & bridesmaids, Sarah, is coming over for dinner tomorrow and I want to have a sweet dessert, so I'm making a green Jell-O brain, which I'm going to garnish with gummy worms. So cute!



My Brain Being Made!



There's Always Room For.... BRAINS!

So, my class schedule for this semester.... I'm taking Art History II (1200AD-Present) with Mark, which is kind of fun. It's our second class together and it's been pretty good so far, especially considering he despises art history. I have German I, and I'm surprised at how well I'm doing so far; we're moving really fast, but I think I'm doing pretty well staying on top of things. I have German every day Mon-Thurs, and I like that because I get daily reinforcement and frequent opportunity to ask questions. I'm also taking two of my four public history core classes (public history is my major), Historic Preservation (artifacts and architecture, history of, processes, issues, etc.) and Intro to Public History, which is a very broad survey of careers, issues, goals and tactics for bringing history into the public eye. Finally, I'm taking Practical Writing, which is a class about writing everything other than school papers; we're doing memos, resumes, interviews, and all kinds of writing that will pertain to our careers down the road. Good group of classes, not too bad of a homework load, especially with me not working as much..... In the spring I have to take German II, my fourth public history core course, Museum Studies, and a US history baccalaureate level writing, and I'll also be doing my 240 hour/6 credit internship. Then, I'm DONE with my B.A.!!!

Mark got the new Halo game, Halo: Reach, and he was very proud of himself that he was the only one in his classes who hadn't stayed up til 4 am the night it came out & in turn were zombies in classes all day the next day. He has only been playing when his work is done, and if I need him for anything he puts it down. This is really important to me, because in the past he's gotten a bit wrapped up in his gaming. I guess being on the cusp of graduating college & getting married makes a person grow up a bit! ;)

I recently re-"decorated" my living room, which consisted of basically a new couch cover, new table accents, & a good vaccuum job. I've always liked green & red - it's most likely a Christmas thing, since that's my favorite time of year besides Halloween - and I just needed to make our crappy-tiny-awful-no-good-very-bad-apartment look somewhat like a home.

I also managed to work in a few snuggles with Drake. He's been weird today - going in & out from the balcony, whining, sitting in the kitchen while I unpacked groceries (which he never does - he doesn't like sitting on tile because he slides & falls)... I thought he could use some love. He's asleep on the floor next to me now. I think he just wanted to be near me - we're gone a lot during the day with school.

Mark made my day today. I was driving to the grocery store from school, and noticed a piece of paper under my wiper. "Oh crap, a ticket!" was my initial reaction, but then I remembered I had a valid sticker & parked in the student structure, so that couldn't be it. This is what I found when I pulled over:




Adorable.

Then, I had a huge low when I was putting away groceries. I Chris Farley'd my kitchen step stool. Yes, it was tiny, yes, it was cheap, and yes, it was probably meant for children, but I still had to walk away silently, shut myself in the bathroom, & cry with a bleeding foot because my big ol' self just broke through a step stool while putting groceries in my pantry. Mark put down his game, cleaned up the shattered pieces - the thing literally EXPLODED under my colossal weight - and came into the bathroom to check my feet & make sure I wasn't hurt badly, and wipe away my tears. He said, "It was crappy & made in China. Not your fault!"


I think I'll be hitting the Rec Center tomorrow.  =(

Ok, well, I have a few more homework things to do before bedtime. Tomorrow is my early morning so I need to get some rest. Thanks to anyone who is keeping up with me. Have a great night,

Emily

Movie Suggestion: "Raw Deal" with Arnold Swarzeneggar (1986) - Arnold is an ex-FBI agent under witness protection who gets roped into infiltrating the Chicago Italian mob to avenge the killing of his former boss' son who was killed while undercover.

Music Suggestion: "The ArchAndroid" (album) by Janelle Monae (2010) - Soul, funk, r&b, hip-hop, rock - everything that could make you move your hips or wink at that sassy thing staring you down from across the bar.

A new day arrives, I wanna look in your eyes when the sun comes up.

{Title: "Sun Comes Up" by John Legend - preferably the live version}

Good morning! Guten tag!

Well, I'm up at 9am, and since I went to bed around midnight, I feel pretty good. I'm getting better about waking up and starting my day earlier because I can get more done & my day feels more accomplished. I have a few classes today, but no work today. I just stepped down from manager to associate at a mall retail store to make more time for school, and I also wait tables at a chain restaurant. Neither of my jobs are where I want to be after school, but they help keep me afloat until I take my next steps.

I'm sure some new people will be reading this, so introductions are in order...

Hi! I'm Emily. I'm a senior at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI finishing up my undergraduate degree in public history and have already finished my minor in English. I will be graduating in the spring, and then next fall, I'm be starting graduate school in history. To be more specific, I am very interested in bringing some of the same attention given to individual survivor stories the past quarter century to the perpetrator side of WWII study, to pull back the “big scary German” mask and find the faces underneath. I would like to investigate, most basically, what kind of political, social, and individual climate conditions were present to bring neighbors, friends, countrymen and strangers to the point of killing one another for the causes of the Nazi regime, or perhaps other causes on differing levels. Everyday life history, personal documents, court documents, military records, and other primary sources are essential to my research.

I am recently engaged to my wonderful partner Mark. He has stood by me through incredibly hard times - we've been dirt poor, without transportation, without jobs, and cramped in a tiny apartment together - and I cannot imagine there's anything we can't handle in the future. Photos!

Here is a slideshow of our journey so far, by season.

Other than that, I'm just a young woman trying to make her way in this world. Mark and I are excited to graduate and move on in our journey together. I'm can't wait to get out of Kalamazoo - I need to see more of the world than West Michigan. My spirit is too wild to stay in one place.

Here are our babies....

Drake (Lab mix) & Isis (kitty)

Rosco (ferret) & Mommy

We also have a 20 gal fish tank (1 rosy cheeked angel, royal pleco & a bunch of danios) & a 50 gal fish tank (African cichlids & pleco). We love animals!

Instead of a dining room table...

Well, time to get rolling on the day. I've got classes & homework & laundry & dishes & . . . The list goes on. Oh yeah, grocery shopping too! Having food in the house is a good thing.

I also have to shout out my small business website, http://www.emilysheavenlyhandmades.webs.com/ where you can find tons of fantastic & one-of-a-kind jewelry sets, accessories, decor and more! Stop over and take a look. I have a small blog on there too relating to the business. If you get around to taking a look, please become a site member to support me! It's free!

More later today I'm sure - I miss this.

Emily

. . . but some of us are looking at the stars.

Well, I have homework to do tonight, but when I'm done, I'll make my first official post.

Here's to a new approach to help get me through these crazy days.

*Cheers*

      Em